The Reading Bug
264 episodes listed below
PRESS PLAY
Let’s fly! ✨ The Reading Bug Podcast is a collection of original audio stories for kids — featuring immersive adventures, cozy bedtime stories, bite-sized story snacks, and curious science questions — all brought to life with original music, original characters and vivid storytelling. Listeners can: Travel anywhere imagination can take them in Reading Bug Adventures — cinematic, two-part story journeys filled with characters, music, and audience participation Wind down with Lauren’s Little Bedtime Stories, calming tales and gentle songs perfect for bedtime and quiet moments Enjoy Story Snacks with The Book Worm - short, immersive stories designed for quick listening and big imagination ...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Participatory adventures weave science, folklore, music, and imaginative play into stories that give children something to learn and something to do.
The Reading Bug Podcast sends Lauren Savage, the Reading Bug, and the listener into participatory story trips through robot labs, prehistoric landscapes, Hawaiian volcanoes, and Irish folklore.
Lauren Savage and the Reading Bug turn a book bag into your ticket to a Hawaiian volcano.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A gentle dinosaur chase that turns confusion into a small lesson about meat-eaters, plant-eaters, and safe curiosity.
This episode works best as a small dinosaur story with a clear spine: a museum visit that first feels like a T. rex scare and then turns into a friendly meeting with Albert. Dr.
A lava-bright myth that turns a sister story into a lesson about anger.
A volcanic legend about Pele and her sister Hiyaka anchors the episode, keeping the focus on fire, family, and the cost of anger. The Reading Bug pairs the myth with playful narration, hula energy, and a steady sense of motion, so the story feels inviting rather than distant.
A volcano story that keeps kids moving, guessing, and learning along the way.
A Hawaiian volcano story keeps moving with the Reading Bug and Lauren, taking kids from San Carlos to the Big Island and into the Puna Rainforest.
A robot story that teaches sensing, thinking, and acting without losing its storybook bounce.
A robot adventure with a built-in science lesson, this encore opens the institute's giant robot room in a way that feels welcoming rather than stiff. It keeps inviting young listeners to guess along as Dr.
A pooka chase turns the hill into a bright, kid-sized scare.
The Reading Bug adventure encore follows Lauren, Liam, and the sheep toward Tir na Nog, then brings them to a hillside packed with pookas that look like black horses and breathe blue flames.
A fast dinosaur tale with prehistoric detail, chase energy, and a strong sense of play.
This Reading Bug adventure keeps the dinosaur chase moving in short, kid-friendly bursts, with a steady mix of wonder and danger. Dr. Patel, a paleontologist, helps anchor the science, while the cave scramble, the missing book bag, and the looming T.
A dinosaur story that turns curiosity into crayons and time travel.
This Reading Bug Adventure turns a museum visit into a dinosaur daydream, then rolls backward through time until the world feels cold, wild, and empty.
A replayed Reading Bug adventure sends Reader from a Gaelic count into a rainbow ride toward Ireland.
The Reading Bug Adventure revisits a favorite past episode, sending Reader from a Gaelic count into a rainbow ride toward Ireland and a green meadow.
Classic tales, calmly brought back to life.
Folktales with music, heart, and momentum.
Bedtime stories with comic bite.
Fast, familiar story time for young listeners.
Frogopolis chaos with a bedtime-story frame.
Fact Fly explores why dinosaurs grew so large, explaining how warm prehistoric climates with abundant plants, specialized lightweight bones and powerful lungs, and evolutionary advantages like predator protection and heat retention all contributed to their massive size.
A gentle bedtime story about Gus, a giraffe who dreams of learning to hula dance.
A whimsical bedtime story about the town of Plumline that experiences a gravity hiccup, causing everything to float until clever boy Arthur discovers that heavy books can anchor people back to earth.
A bedtime story about Zibby, a serious helper robot in orderly Sparktown who meets Gigglebot, a silly runaway robot.
A bedtime story about Willa, a cloud sheep who lives in the Sky-High Meadow.
A gentle bedtime story about Finnegan, a tiny field mouse who helps his leprechaun friend Liam find a missing silver whistle to restore magical music to their Irish glen.
A bedtime story about Pip, a little penguin who wishes he could fly like the birds above, but learns from his family's song that penguins have their own secret sky in the ocean.
Lauren narrates a gentle bedtime story about three siblings who become the Knights of the Garden Gate, helping a tired troll clear a blocked bridge on their way to Camelot, where King Arthur and Queen Guinevere celebrate their bravery and kindness.
A gentle bedtime story about Barnaby, a bear who discovers the moon has lost its glow and embarks on a journey to paint it back to life using starlight paste.
The Reading Bug returns with an encore robot adventure.
The Reading Bug starts at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History and pulls Reader into another adventure encore.
Fact Fly and Lauren explore how scientists know what happened millions of years ago by examining Earth's natural records.
The Reading Bug returns with another Irish adventure encore.
The Reading Bug arrives late, and Lauren is eager to see where the adventure has wandered.
Reader, the rainforest has a dinosaur.
Ready, Reader?
Reader?
The Reading Bug returns with the second half of a volcano adventure and keeps Reader close to the action.
Reader, hold on tight.
Fact Fly and co-host Lauren explore why volcanoes erupt, explaining concepts like magma, lava, pressure, and tectonic plates through playful analogies like Earth's sneezes, peanut butter magma, and lava wearing jeans.
A gentle bedtime story about Bella, a bunny who loses her spectacular hop and learns to find new ways of moving with help from animal friends in Velvet Valley.
The Bookworm leads a bite-sized adventure to ancient Egypt, exploring a scribal school where students learn hieroglyphs on papyrus.
A kids' podcast episode where the Fact Fly introduces a science question segment, with a sponsor break and playful banter.
A calming bedtime story for children about a girl named Stella and a star that visits her.
A calming bedtime story for children about a magical adventure involving moonlight and marshmallow mischief.
A children's podcast featuring original audio adventures with music and audience participation, including a robot-themed story.
A kids' podcast featuring original audio stories, including a science-themed episode about autocomplete.
The Bookworm introduces a bite-sized adventure about Ada Lovelace and the origins of computer programming.
A children's audio story podcast featuring original adventures, bedtime stories, and music, with sponsor messages and bookstore promotions.
A children's podcast episode featuring an original audio adventure with music, audience participation, and a sponsor message.
A children's podcast featuring original audio adventures with music and audience participation, sponsored by Scholastic.
A children's audio story podcast featuring original adventures, bedtime stories, and music for kids, produced by an independent bookstore.